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Monthly Archives: March 2009

I wasted the last hour trying to get Google Reader to stop showing me objects shared by my contacts. Since I started using it, I kept wondering why I was seeing stuff related cameras and photography that I was definitely was not subscribed too. Turns out it’s was the ‘shared by’ feature that allows friends to share crap with me and anyone else on their google contact list.

So turns out all this was coming from one of my Ex Girlfriends who I haven’t spoken to in years. I hardly doubt I was singled out for this treatment, as, when you decide to share, you by default share with your entire contact list, which includes everyone you ever sent an email to with a g-mail account. This might seem like a fun feature, and in some cases I’m sure it is, but lets be real. Unless you assume everyone who uses RSS feeds is getting feeds for the same industry/tech/socialnetwirking/twitscape type bullshit, you’re going to have your RSS feed box spammed by shit you couldn’t care less about. This wouldn’t be a big deal really (a rarely useful feature is rarely worse than not having the feature at all), besides for the fact that there is no way to opt out. With some searching I found the easiest answer. Remove these people from your contacts list.

Wow. Great solution.

Especially since some people care enough about that sort of stuff to find it insulting for some reason. By my own luck I found a way to disable individuals from showing me their content. Well, to hide there content. Now I have to do this for each and every offender who accidently spams on RSS box.

No, Google. I don’t care. Stop trying to drag me into social networking. I don’t give a damn what my friends are reading about. I have my own feeds(Fighting game stuff, a few podcasts) and my own bars (Digg, Slashdot) for my own, personally chosen and tweaked content delivery service. Everyone is worried about Google becoming some crazy monopoly — I’m afraid of it becoming another Facebook and signing me into the service through no will of my own. I hate this almost Apple-esque attitude of “we know what you want more than you do”. I know what content I want and I don’t give a shit what my friends are subscribed to. Maybe, just MAYBE, ONE DAY I will care what ONE of my friends share and would like to subscribe to HIS feed lists, shares and suggestions, but, so far, no one who uses Google Reader on my content list POSTS ANY CONTENT THAT I WOULD EVER CARE ABOUT. They post content THEY CARE ABOUT because it’s THEIR FEEDS.

I would totally ditch Google Reader if I didn’t want something that integrated nicely with iGoogle. I love google and their business model, but the more social networking crap they force on me, the less tolerant I get.

Anyone who talks to me regularly probably knows I play far too much of Derek Yu’s Spelunky. I often joke with friends that it’s the reason I don’t get game design work done (It’s not true, if I’m playing Spelunky it’s because I’m lazy!). That said, I think I just ran out of things to do as I just completed the game after going to the City of Gold. I ended with 350,000 gold in the end I think. I could aim for a better score, but I think it’ll really take new content to get me playing again. I get most of my wins through aggressive play and shopkeeper mangling. I’m pretty much convinced the path of blood is the best path to victory. Also I like playing as the damsel far too much.

The Damsel is the victim of the Spelunky narrative. She’s sold by slavers as a prostitute, can barely fend for her self, and when a jerk comes along and finds her, he uses her as a human shield and projectile. Sometimes he’ll even sacrifice her or feed her to man eating plants! WELL NOT TODAY. Playing as the damsel makes every evil action on my part an act of vengeance.

Perhaps I get into the roleplaying aspect of gaming too much. Ah well, thats enough Spelunky for awhile.

Naomi is the second child of Duke Alexander and Leona Vos Cruz. She is a young, Paladin-Adept in the Sacred Order of Saint Alistair, an Order that serves the Holy Aistorian Catholic Church. Naomi graduated near the top of her class in the Order’s Military Academy. Despite lacking true combat experience, she is considered a prodigy in armed combat and with an excellent handle on the combative use of holy magic for her age and experience. Unfortunately her skills in the healing arts are lacking.

Naomi is kind and compassionate, though she possesses a firey temper when properly antagonized. She has a strong sense of justice and faith in those she serves. She stands at 5’9″ and maintains a high level of fitness, having slender, athletic build with long powerful legs. Naomi prides herself on her level of fitness and her excellent grooming, seeking to set an example to others.

Naomi idolizes her older brother, Trevor, who is an 8 year veteran and officer in the Order, known for for his righteous zeal in combat and his extreme piety and righteousness. Despite her successes, Naomi does not feel like she can live up to the same standards as Trevor. While generally rather cold and distant to those around him when not in combat, him and Naomi have a strong relationship. Trevor often seeks to protect his younger sister and to keep her out of combat.

Despite Trevor’s protests, Naomi and him have been sent to investigate and then eliminate a surging undead population in a distant village…